how to get started, on learning to use the command-line interface

/ from a comment i left on ycomb /

Don't start in the obvious places, because you can get stuck there for a decade before figuring out what else is going on ( I did, you shouldn't ) ( quick dive ; quick dip )

1. do a quick read on how UNIX and Linux kernels were designed, particularly what "file handlers" and "sockets" are ( day 1 ; 30 minutes )

2. do a quick read on the difference between "command prompts" (1-dimensional) and "pseudo-teletype terminals" (2-dimensional) ( day 2 ; 15 minutes ) ... note that both are varieties of "shell" ; shells are opposed to kernels

3. do a quick read on what "display managers vs window managers" are ... and if possible ( now this is quite hard, as the docs are messy ) ... how the kernel, talks to the shell, which talks to a pseudo-teletype terminal, which is a display client to the display server, which talks to the display server, which talks to the window manager ( it may not be exactly like that, but this is a good assumption to make until you get a clearer view ) ( day 3 ; 2 hours )

4. then learn a shell scripting language

5. then do something like "espeak 'oh hi there'"

Alternatively, do this in reverse numerical order.